The Air Force Academy's class of 2019 will finish basic training about 6 percent smaller than it was when the basics arrived at the school in June.
The class, which began with 1,248 would-be cadets on June 26, ended Saturday. But a basic training that commanders call the most challenging test of cadets in recent years pared the ranks to 1,177...

A graduation speaker at the Air Force Academy had an odd message for three cadets who joined the ranks of the class of 2015 after wrapping up summer work last week.
"You're idiots," retired Brig. Gen. Robert Giffen said during a ceremony at the academy's visitor's center.
Giffen said wasn't setting out to insult cadets Taylor Amundsen,...

Dodgy companies peddling pricey compound pharmaceuticals have fleeced the Tricare program so severely this year that they are largely to blame for a $2 billion defense health budget hole. In fiscal 2010, military outpatient pharmacy costs totaled $6.6 billion, with $23 million spent on compound drugs. By fiscal 2014, outpatient pharmacy costs...

Carson complex to be replaced A much-maligned housing complex at Fort Carson will face the wrecking ball, the post said in a news release. The Cherokee Village neighborhood of brick multifamily homes was built after World War II and remodeled after the post privatized its housing in 1999. While the remodeled homes had better amenities, the...

THOUGH FRIDAY Suits for Troops - Donate gently used men's and women's suits to assist servicemen/women preparing to enter civilian life at Braxton, 6 N. Tejon St., Suite 220. All suits must be cleaned, on hangers (preferably in dry-cleaner bags) and sizes must be clearly marked on the outside of the bag; Donna, 219-7456, tinyurl.com/ohgwpwf....

A measure that will allow military honors to be displayed on handicap license plates is one of three veteran-friendly Colorado General Assembly measures becoming law Wednesday. Colorado Springs Republican Rep. Kit Roupe said she wrote HB-1026 to give extra honor to those disabled in combat by allowing handicap license plates that display...

Jennifer Lipscomb sees a link between her work as a supply specialist in the Army and what she now does as a civilian.
"Honestly, it is all about giving," said Lipscomb, who spent eight years in the Army and is now the Chapter Resource Director with Smile for a Lifetime in Colorado Springs. "I found that as a supply specialist, my biggest...

Wounded, injured and ill airmen sat tall in the saddle last week as they rode through an Air Force Academy program designed to give them a key healing ingredient.
"Confidence," said retired Tech. Sgt. Larry O'Neil, who has spent years battling the hidden mental wounds that followed combat in northern Iraq.
The San Antonio-based Air Force...

The clomping sound of hooves was hard to miss Saturday afternoon at the Kit Carson Riding Club for the inaugural Ranch Horse Round Up. Organized by the National Versatility Ranch Horse Association and the riding club, the first day of the two-day Colorado Springs event offered participants up to three 2½-hour sessions on everything from...

Carson deputy gets stars on collar Fort Carson deputy commander Timothy Daugherty is seeing stars after the Army's top general gave him one for each collar point. Col. Daugherty became Brig. Gen. Daugherty in a Thursday ceremony presided over by Army chief Gen. Ray Odierno. Most recently assigned to the Pentagon, Daugherty moved to Fort...

The Veterans Choice, Access and Accountability Act of 2014, which Congress rushed to pass last summer to address a patient wait-time scandal, spurred the VA to broaden access to care. Turns out it did so largely through use of existing and often costly contract authorities and partnerships for non-VA health care with local communities rather...

Rampart Range Blue Star Mothers is sponsoring a Suits for Troops campaign to provide suits to people transitioning out of the military in Colorado Springs. The Blue Star Mothers consists of moms of active or former military and found decided to do the campaign after a member saw a similar program elsewhere, said Mothers president Terry Rocha....

Army chief Gen. Ray Odierno said during a Fort Carson visit he wants 490,000 soldiers in uniform to meet the service's worldwide commitments - 40,000 more than current cost-cutting plans.
The service's top general said he needs the extra troops because ongoing trouble in Iraq, tensions with Russia and other commitments on five continents....

The Army says it will cut 40,000 soldiers from its ranks, but how it will hack about half that number from the roster is hazy. This month the Pentagon unveiled a nationwide troop reduction, but only gave a detailed accounting of about half the soldiers it plans to cut. Experts compare the move to a child who cleans a room by shoving the mess...

Representatives of the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans have warned lawmakers to reject calls to impose an age ceiling or other cost controls on VA compensation payments to veterans whose service-connected disabilities leave them unemployable. An age ceiling is perhaps the most tempting option discussed in a new Government...